Cairo – Bastet

Time to unwind this one. Took a day and a half and three flights and two long layovers but we made it. Twenty one plus hours of tube time… Thirteen hours of layovers… Two of hours in cars…

We flew over some interesting territory, with all the news on the area I thought we would take a different path but no, all was routine.

Air Cairo 23 - Hurghada to Cairo — Air Cairo 23 – Hurghada to Cairo

Looking across the Gulf of Suez to the Sinai Peninsula.

Emirates 924 - Cairo to Dubai — Emirates 924 – Cairo to Dubai

We arrived in Dubai with 8 hours to burn, Emirates has a comfortable lounge and after a glass of champagne sleep came easily. Our path over the pole meant October 30th would have two sunrises and sunsets for us.

Emirates 225 - Dubai to San Francisco — Emirates 225 – Dubai to San Francisco

Passing Mt. Rainier and Sydney on the last leg.

Kim started a timer on her iPhone when we got into the van in Hurghada and stopped it when we pulled up at our home in Santa Clara so we know our travel time.

This was a great trip, saw many bucket list items. We had many friends and family who reached out to check on us, thank you for your concern and thoughts. We were in Dubai when the issues in Israel broke out. It was of concern to us however after some quick research we decided to continue since Egypt seemed fine. I will admit I had a knot in my stomach when we landed in Cairo however the warm welcome of Mohamed Rabee (the first of many Mohameds) of Sita World Tours put us at ease immediately. This set the tone for the rest of our visit which went smoothly. Security is taken seriously in Egypt, there are guards and checkpoint everywhere. But this is life here and as long as you flow with it when you visit you will be fine.

Lots of people to thanks on this trip, for those looking for people to help in their travels these people and their agencys are recommended:

Mohamed Rabee, Hamoudy and other Sita World Tours who met and moved us to where we were to be. As I said previously Mohameds friendliness upon our arrival set the tone for our time in Egypt.
Guides Heba Amer and Mohamed Salah (and others) of Cosmos Egypt for sharing their knowledge, humor and patience.
Deb Siegle of Come Travel Today with whom we have been working on this trip with since the beginning of this year. For a second year she has helped us go so far away we could not walk home. Thanks Deb!

With that this blog is wrapped.

Once upon a time… As our ancestors began to travel they began to recount the marvels that they saw. Eventually Seven Wonders were commonly identified and, unfortunately, six were lost to time. The remaining one, and the oldest is the Great Pyramid of Giza. At 480 feet tall, it was the tallest building in the world for many centuries. The Giza complex consists of three main pyramids, Khufu’s Pyramid (The Great Pyramid), Khafre’s Pyramid (prominent display of casing stones at its apex), the smallest of the three, Menkaure’s Pyramid plus a variety of smaller monuments to other important people of the time. In pictures Khafre’s Pyramid looks larger than the Great Pyramid but this is a deliberate illusion, Khafre was Khufu’s son so building a taller one would have been disrespectful. So Khafre designed his to be smaller in both height and volume but at higher elevation to give the illusion of being taller.

Heba told us it took 20 to 27 years to build each pyramid and the farmers in the Nile river valley would work on the construction during the Nile floods since their land was unusable at this time. Why not use spare time to contribute to the leaders project?

The Pyramid complex, (L to R) Khufu's Pyramid, Khafre's Pyramid and Menkaure's Pyramid. — The Pyramid complex, (L to R) Khufu’s Pyramid, Khafre’s Pyramid and Menkaure’s Pyramid.

Some desert transportation, now used for tourists.

Heba was very good at getting photos of the both of us.

Kim misses the cats so she made a local friend.

Transportation between Khufu's and Khafre's Pyramids. — Transportation between Khufu’s and Khafre’s Pyramids.

The Giza complex is also home to the Great Sphinx of Giza. Made of one solid piece of rock for the Egyptians, the sphinx was a protector. Built to guard royalty, it was often found near royal burials and temple entrances. With the head of a man and body of a lion it represents the combination of knowledge and strength. There are multiple debates on the Sphinx first of all being who’s face is on it, Khufu or Khafre. Also what happened to the nose, some stories say Napoleon Bonaparte shot it off with a cannon however Heba said illustrations that date before Napoleon reveal a noseless sphinx so natural erosion is the likely cause.

Great Sphinx of Giza and the Pyramid of Khafre.

A chance to visit the King’s Chamber in Khufu’s Pyramid was impossible to pass up for me. This journey is not for the faint of heart, it is a bit of work, crowded (the tunnels are two way) and quite warm. It was well worth the effort.

Entrance to the Robber's Tunnel. — Entrance to the Robber’s Tunnel.

After all this it was time to leave Cairo for Aswan. We really wish we had more time in Giza and Sakkara as well, there was so much to see. Cairo is a very busy place and after five days soaking it in we are ready to move on. We will most definitely miss Heba, our guide and companion for the past few days. She got my number quickly and gave as well as she took. شكرا هبة!

Tag: Cairo

36 Hours Later…

The Last Ancient Wonder